Accra Hearts of Oak climaxed their 108th anniversary celebrations when they cut sod for the construction of the Pobiman Academy project on Monday.
The Pobiman Academy project would include a state of art training facilities, football pitches, hostel, semidetached houses, dining halls, among others.
Speaking at the sod cutting ceremony, Mr. Fredrick Moore, Chief Executive Officer of the club, stated that, the project is supposed to demonstrate the intent of the management as they target to take the club to greater heights.
“This project is to show our supporters that we mean success and business, so we welcome you here not only to cut the sod but to show you our intent of what we want to do for this great club.
“We are hoping that we would continue to be the trailblazers and the premier club at every point in the history of football in Ghana,’’ he said.
Mr. Kurt E.S. Okraku, President of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), thanked the Board and Management of the club for the initiative and was happy that, the club was laying good foundation for the future.
“We are here to lay a foundation for the big take off of the Hearts of Oak empire. Hearts has achieved a lot when you talk about Ghanaian football history but in recent times we speak about Hearts not being dominant enough and lack of trophies in the cabinet in the last 10 years and it is because the fundamentals has been weak and stopped producing super talents.
He called for massive support for the project and also urged fans to turn out massively during the club matches and but the replica jersey to help them generate revenue for the day to day running of the club.
Dr. Nyaho Nyaho Tamakloe, in his address on behalf of the Board Chairman of the club, Togbe Afede XIV thanked the board members for the laudable initiative and was hopeful that the project would raise the image of the club.
“The talents produced by the club over the past years encouraged the Management and the Board to actualize the dream and ensure that, the club operates its own academy which would be comparable to best academies across the world,’’ he said.
He thanked the founding fathers of the club who have helped the club through its difficult times over its 108 years of existence.
By Simon Asare, GNA
